La Esperanza

ENERGY:

Hydro

Displacing 35,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, serving 13,000 households and planting 40,000 new trees.

Located on the waters of the Intibuca River, the rural village of La Esperanza is one of the poorest counties in Latin America. As with many other villages in Honduras, the tiny community of La Esperanza suffered from a complete lack of electrification, a deteriorating environment and a collapse of its economic base.

The arrival of the hydro facility reinvigorated this community. La Esperanza is a 13.5 megawatt run-of-river hydroelectric provides clean energy to over 13,000 households in Honduras.

Impact:

A supply of modern clean energy to every household in the village
Creation of over 130 permanent jobs
Development of a small micro lending program
Implementation of a large scale reforestation project planting over 40,000 trees.

In 2003, we supported La Esperanza’s developers with business plan preparation and provided a catalytic $250,000 loan for construction of the first powerhouse. We also assisted La Esperanza in assessing and quantifying its carbon offset potential and advised the developers on the sale of its carbon reduction emissions to the World Bank Community Development Carbon Fund.